Of the 16 German regional states, just four still have room to accommodate incoming asylum seekers, as the country struggles to deal with new influxes of migrants coming by the Balkan route.
The 12 German states which have reached their capacity to accommodate asylum seekers have become full due to the large numbers of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the conflict with Russia on top of asylum seekers from other countries. They have been forced to suspend their distribution system, according to a spokeswoman from the Interior Ministry.
The spokeswoman added that the German federal government was looking to aid the states by making 318 federally-owned properties available to house asylum seekers and refugees, the European Union-funded website InfoMigrants reports.
Bavaria’s Interior Joachim Herrmann. who chairs Germany’s Conference of Interior Ministers, commented on the ongoing issue saying: “In Bavaria, the accommodation options for asylum seekers are increasingly being used to capacity” — but he added that “Bavaria is currently still receptive” regardless.
Hermann complained that the federal government should not accept more asylum seekers but then leave the German states to deal with finding them accommodation, noting that Bavartia’s asylum accommodations are currently 102.7 per cent occupied.
Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann, meanwhile, claimed that there are more refugees in Germany today than during the 2015 migrant crisis.
“We already have more refugees than in the refugee crisis of 2015. The population must be prepared for the fact that we will find ourselves in difficult situations again,” Kretschmann said last month.
Along with the surge of Ukrainians seeking refuge from the conflict with Russia, Germany has also seen a 140 per cent increase in illegal arrivals across its border with the Czech Republic, with arrivals are said to be at a record high.
The migrants coming across this border are mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, according to the tabloid Bild.
“The smuggling business is running at full speed again and the federal government has so far been watching idly,” Christoph de Vries, a member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said.
The increase coincides with a surge of activity along the Balkan migration route this year, with the European Union border agency Frontex noting in June that the number of illegals using it had increased by 167 per cent.